Morbidity

Journal of Vascular Nursing: Official Publication of the Society for Peripheral Vascular Nursing

The purpose of this integrative review is to describe and assess randomized controlled trials of interventions to reduce peripheral arterial disease (PAD) risk factors among African Americans, given the high morbidity and mortality associated with PAD and the poorer outcomes in African Americans with PAD. The reviewed studies include non-pharmacological interventions aimed at the reduction of hemoglobin A1c, blood pressure and lipids in African-American patients with the causal PAD risk factors of diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia.

We applied the Weibull distribution to the life-table and age-patterns of diseases in Japan. The life-table follows a composite Weibull distribution composed of initial failure and two stage wear-out failure periods. The extension of lifespan during the past century is manifested as increases in the scale parameters in all three periods and the shape parameters in the wear-out periods with female predominancy. The shape parameters of diseases show time-independent sex-dependent specific values.

How we age as individuals is no doubt a complex interaction of genetic and environmental factors. Studies of certain populations with optimal environments and health-related behaviors, as well as twin studies, suggest that the average set of genetic variations should facilitate the average person's ability to live to around age 85. Average life expectancies are lower than this because we generally fight survival advantage with bad health habits that can lead to premature aging, chronic illness, and death at a significantly younger age.

The Journals of Gerontology. Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences

BACKGROUND: The compression of morbidity hypothesis predicts that, in order to achieve their extreme old age, centenarians markedly delay or even escape diseases that would otherwise be lethal at younger ages. Phenotypic studies have not adequately characterized the prevalence and timing of age-related illnesses among those who achieve exceptional old age. Thus, we conducted a retrospective cohort study of centenarians to explore the timing of such diseases among centenarians. METHODS: Health history questionnaires were completed by 424 centenarians (aged 97-119 years) or their proxies.

Recent studies documented that most centenarians were survivors with multiple comorbidities. We examined morbidities and physical and cognitive function of 302 Japanese centenarians living in Tokyo, and assessed the association between morbidities and functional status. Most centenarians have chronic diseases such as hypertension, heart disease, and stroke. Notably, the prevalence of diabetes mellitus was very low compared with middle-aged Japanese adults. Stroke and fracture were significantly associated with poorer physical and cognitive function.

Compared with our ancestor's diet, that consumed by present-day Western populations is higher in intake of energy, of protein (especially animal protein) and of fat (especially animal fat), but lower in intake of fibre-containing cereal foods; this diet is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality from degenerative diseases.

The impact of diet and specific food groups on aging and age-associated degenerative diseases has been widely recognized in recent years. The modern concept of the free radical theory of aging takes as its basis a shift in the antioxidant/prooxidant balance that leads to increased oxidative stress, dysregulation of cellular function, and aging. In the context of this theory, antioxidants can influence the primary "intrinsic" aging process as well as several secondary age-associated pathological processes.

The Journals of Gerontology. Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences

Animal experiments have shown that calorically restricted (CR) animals weigh less and live longer than their ad libitum-fed peers. Are these observations applicable to human beings? This is an important question because the prevalence of obesity in America has increased markedly over recent years. We examine whether there are physiologic effects that occur with CR in humans that could plausibly explain the observed longevity of laboratory animals associated with CR.